IT'S NOTHING MAMA, JUST A GAME (1974)
AK.A. BEYOND EROTICA
A.K.A. LOLA
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 89 Minutes
Audio: Spanish and English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: José María Forqué
Cast: David Hemmings, Alida Valli, Francisco Rabal, Andrea Rau, Nuria Gimeno
This little seen Spanish gem from 1974 stars David Hemmings (Deep Red) as Juan, a plantation-owner who with help from his enabling mother Louise (Alida Valli, Suspiria) and doting housekeeper Maria (Lucila Herrera) is able to indulge his wildest cruelties; denigrating the hired help, assaulting them, dressing them in rabbit-fur bikinis and bunny ears and hunting them on horseback with a pack of vicious dogs like wild beasts.
The flick opens with one of these hunts, with Juan pursuing a young woman named Lucia (Nuria Gimeno, Bell from Hell) through the jungle, who unfortunately gets her foot stuck in a bear-trap before being savaged to death by Juan's dogs. The local villagers seem to know something is not quite right at the plantation, but as it's the only source of income in area they let it slide; preferring to believe the story that Lucia was killed by a mother dog who was mad at the young woman for stealing away her puppies.
With Luca dead Juan's mother quickly hires a new housemaid named Isabel (Rudy Hernández), but she is not to Juan's liking, throwing herself into his arms to easily, and he instead sets his eyes set on the alluring Lola (Andrea Rau, Daughters of Darkness), the daughter of one of the estate security officer. His mother tries to dissuade him from pursuing her but his mind is made up. At the dinner table when Lola is serving soup Juan feels her up, and she dumps a bowl of chicken noodle soup over his head, and continues to rebuff his advances, even fighting off an attempted rape, but her fighting spirit proves irresistible and Juan sets out to break her spirit.
Eventually he tires of spying on her from his hammock outside her window and imprisons her in an abandoned horse training facility where he sets about breaking her spirit by starving her, preparing her to be the latest bunny-fur clad prey for a new hunt, but Lola proves to be a bit more stubborn and determined that Juan is prepared for. .
Throughout the film there are flashbacks to Juan growing up with his father who was a sadistic tyrant who ruled the plantation with fear, regularly raping the women in his employee and brutalizing the hired help. Juan's is traumatized by his upbringing and his father's death, and has grown into a sadistic piece of shit, but we also see how impotent and weak is he as well. Also figuring into the bizarre psychosexual weirdness is his late father's brother Tio (Francisco Rabal, Sorcerer) who wants a larger stake in the finances of plantation, to that end hiring a psychologist, who's a dead ringer for Wes Craven) to have him declared mentally incompetent.
It's a psychologically twisted and perverse bit of Franco-era Spanish exploitation, with a chilly and layered performance from Hemmings, who apparently didn't have the greatest time making the movie. Rau is also quite fantastic as the woman who proves to me stronger than Hemmings' psycho-sadistic character had bargained for, managing to turn the tables on him with a slightly ambiguous finale that leaves plenty to chew on when the credits start rolling. Interestingly the film has a load of exploitative elements but doesn't go for a bare it all aesthetic, while there is some eye-catching Rau nudity the rape scenes and violence are shot in a way that leaves a lot to the imagination. I wouldn't say it was an overly stylish production but it is handsomely lensed with some interesting angles and editing. There's a lot of layers to appreciate it about it, with themes of white colonialism and the power and impunity the wealthy wild over lower class, plus more lurid wickedness, and some unsavory animal cruelty by way of Hemming's Juan who when not hunting beautiful women like beasts is shooting rabbits that have already caught in snares. It's a fascinating performance from Hemmings, unlike anything I've seen him in before, and well worth seeking out.
This is not a film I had seen before, only having seen a murky clip of it under the title on Beyond Erotica on YouTube some years ago, and I was never able to track down a copy of it, so I am appreciative of Mondo Macabro for making it available widely with a fantastic looking looking Blu-ray.
Audio/Video: It's Nothing Mama, Just A Game (1974) arrives on region free Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro in 1080 p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. This is a new restoration sourced from a new 4K scan of the original 35mm negative and it looks great. Very filmic and non-digitized with a fine looking grain structure and precious few blemishes. are solid with a only a few scenes looks slightly washed out from age, but overall a filmic and fantastic presentation.
Audio comes by way of English and Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.O with optional English subtitles. It seems that both are dubbed options but I think the English track has the edge, particularly since it has Hemmings dubbing his own voice.
Onto the extras we get a brand new commentary from film critic/author Kat Ellinger who does a lovely job of talking about the career of director José María Forqué, filmmaking in Spain under the rule of Franco and the censorship, the colonialism and psychosexual themes and quite a bit more.
There's also an 18-minute video essay Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely by Chris O'Neill that explored Hemmings career, spanning fifty years, which made me realize I have only seen a handful of his titles and need to make a deep dive into his filmography. We also get 5-minutes of alternate title trailers (Beyond Erotica, Lola), a 7-minute alternate Spanish title sequence and a fourteen-minute Mondo Macabro trailer reel, which is an event unto itself! The single-disc releases arrives in a standard keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork. This was also previously available as a red case limited edition release from Mondo Macabro with a sleeve of reversible artwork, lobby card reproductions and a booklet.
Special Features:
- NEW! Audio Commentary by Kat Ellinger
- NEW! Video Essay 'Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely' on the career of David Hemmings by Chris O'Neill (18 min)
- Alternate Title Trailers: Beyond Erotica (2 min), Lola (3 min)
- Alternate Title Sequence (7 min)
- Mondo Macabro Previews (14 min)
This unsettling flick definitely has a Most Dangerous Game vibe to it, but it's perverse and weird along the lines of something Seven Women for Satan (also on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro). Those elements combined with magnetic turns from Hemmings and Rau makes for something quite special, a wicked euro-cult treat steeped in psycho-sexual sadism.
Screenshots from the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray:
